Reverse Remittances: Internal Migration and Rural-to-Urban Remittances in Industrialising South Korea

Migrant remittances are widely considered as one-way transfers from migrants to families in their communities of origin. Because remittances are unrequited, they can serve developmental purposes. But what if remittances are requited? Reverse remittances-money and goods which families send to their migrant members-do exist and can be substantial. Research on internal migration in South Korea reveals that reverse remittances can even exceed remittances. This paper draws on surveys of migrant transfers to outline patterns of reverse remittances. The high level of reverse remittances in South Korea can be attributed to that society's truncated urban transition: because massive permanent village-to-city migration was not preceded or accompanied by short-term circulation between urban places of varying sizes, migration was poorly integrated into rural economic activities. The South Korean experience raises questions about the role of remittances in the relationship between migration and development in communities of origin.